Cake-icing machine.



J. H. MITCHELL.

CAKE ICING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED JULY a, 1908.

Patented Mar. 30, 1909.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

H. -U a I l r 1& A? swN QNN mm! TOR Y jm fi m Br Mum L ATTORNEY.

PWNESSES 410M J. H. MITCHELL.

CAKE ICING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 3, 190B.

Patented Mar. 30, 1909.

BSHEETS-SHEET 2.

3 sHEETS-SHEET 3- INVENTOR j w- #fiaz I Br 4. ATTORNEY.

Patented Mar. 30, 1909.

WITNESSES 5 JAMES H. MITCHELL, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA.

CAKE-ICING momma] Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented March so, 1905.

Application filed July 3, 1908, Serial No. 441,728.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JAMES H. MrroHELL, a citizen of the United States ofAmerica, residing in the city and county of Philadelphia, in the Stateof Pennsylvania, have invented a certain newand useful Improvement inCake-Icing Machines, of which the following is a true and exactdescription, reference bein had to the accompanying drawings, whic forma part thereof.

The resent invention relates to-machines for app ying a'thic-ksemi-fluid material such as icing to cakes or the like pastry and it isparticularly adapted for use in icing relatively thin flat cakes each onone side or a portion of one side only.

One object of the invention is to provide mechanism relatively simple inconstruction and operation by which t 1e icing can be applied to thecakes quickly and uniformly, and in which the icing operation is socarried on that breakage 'and consequent wastage of the cakes iced isreduced to a minimum.

A further object of the invention. is the provision of a machine whichcan. be used without any modification or with but simple and easily mademodifications to operate on cakes of different size and shape.

The various features of novelty which characterize the invention arepointedaout with particularity in the claims annexed to and orming: apart of this specification For a better understanding of the invention,however, and the advantages possessed by it, reference may be had to theaccompanying drawings and descriptive matter in which I have illustratedand described forms in which the invention may be utilized.

Of the drawings, Figure 1 is a plan view of the assembled machine. Fig.2 is an elevation of the machine. Fig. 3 is a sectional elevation of themachine Fig. 4 is va perspective view of one of the conveyer carryingmembers which I may use. Fig. 5 is a perspective view similar to Fig. 4,showing a modified construction, and Fig. 6 is another view similar toFigs. 4 and 5, showing a third form ofthe carrier member which I mayuse.

In the drawings, A represents the frame work of the machine as a whole.On the frame work and at opposite ends are secured pairs of brackets Aand A. As shown, the two brackets A may be adjusted toward and away fromthe brackets'A by means of frame work lugs A and adjusting screws A. Thebrackets A and A have journaled in them shafts Band B, respectively,each of which has secured to it a pair of gear wheels C, over which runsan endless eonveyer formed by the two sprocket chains D and the carrier,members E, which extend parallel to. the'shafts B and B, and which arere movablyfastened at regular intervals to the chains D by small bolt-ssecured tothe chain and passing through 0 enings E formed. in the endsof the mem ers E, and thumb screws E for clam -ing the members D inplace. The shafts and B have secured to them adjacent each end ahexagonal hub B against which the corresponding ends of the carriermembers E hear when passing the shafts B and B. The ends of the carriermembers E, while traveling between the upper sides of the hubs B restupon and are supported by guides formed by the u per edges of auxiliaryframe members A w rich are supported from the main frame work bybrackets A.

The members E in the form shown in Figs.

1, 2, 3 and 4 are each in the form of a plate having a slot or pocket Eformed in it and extending len thwise of the plate. he walls of thisslbt form the upper side of a cake receiving recess or pocket which isprovided with .a skeleton or ca -e like bottom formed by yoke shaped momers E formed of small diameter wire. The ends of the legs of thesemembers E are secured ,to the members Ewitlf the body portions extendingparallel to the direction of travel of the conveyer belt.

One or more icing rolls F are journaled in the side members A In theform shown, there are three of these rolls which are similar to eachother and are similarl placed. The supporting shafts for the rofls' Fare;

each provided at one side of the machine with a sprocket gear F Thegears F are driven by a sprocket chain F which runs over a drivingsprocket gear F 4 carried by the shaft B, and over an idler sprocketgear F mounted in a-bearing F adjust-ably mounted in the adjacent sideframe member A The rolls F turn in a bath G of the semifiuid icingmaterial contained in a trough G, supported between side frames A andreceiving icing material as necessary through a conduit G which,preferably, is provided with distributed openings at its, lower end andextends across the machine and isconnected at one end with the hopper GThe shaft B is provided at one end with the fast and loose drivingpulleys B and B and forms the main driving shaft of the machine. It willbe observed that the direction of rotation of the rolls F is such thatthe upper sides of the rolls travel in the same direction as theadjacent conveyer members E, and the parts are timed so that theadjacent surfaces of the rolls F and the members E have substantiallythe same linear velocity. Scrapers F which are preferably adjustable,are provided adjacent the rolls F and serve to regulate the thickness ofthe icing layers carried into proximity to the members E by the rolls FtIn order to insureuniformity of the thickness of the icing layerimparted to the under side of the cakes in the members E, one or morescraping devices, which are preferably in the form of taut wirl Y, ofsmall diameter, are located beneath the upper run of the conveyer.

This serves to smooth off the surface of the icing layer and to removeany excess of icing material. The material scraped off by the taut wiresdoes not adhere to the wires on account of their small diameter, butdrops into the rece tacle G.

Any'suita le provision may be made for conveying the cakes to be icedinto the members E. In practice, I prefer to have the cakes fed inmanually, since the fragile nature of thematerial handled and the greatdiversity in size and shape of the cakes which it is usually desired toice with any one machine,'make it inadvisable to provide mechanism forautomatically feeding the cakes into the members E.

In the apparatus shown, a feed table L is provided, which is locatedabove and inclined toward the upper surface of the conveyer. with troughlike portions L at its upper end, in which stacked up piles of cakes maybe deposited, as desired, and the attendant feeds these cakes from thestacked u piles down the inclined portion of the table into each memberE, as the latter pass beneath the lower edge of the table. As ordinarilyused, the travel of the conveyer is not rapid enoughto make it difficultfor an operator to manually feed the cakes into the machine. A receptace I is supported between the side members A, adjacent the lower end ofthe table L, into which crumbs and broken fragments of the cakescollect. These crumbs and fragments may be removed through an opening Iformed in one of the side frame members A.

At the right hand end of the machine, as

As shown, the table L is formed shown in Figs. 1, 2 and 3', framebrackets A are provided, which sup ort at their upper ends a cross rodJ, to w ich the upper end of an apron J, of flexible material, issecured. The lower end of the a ron J is secured to a cross bar Jlocated eneath the shaft B. The a ron J 1 prevents the cakes fromfalling out o the open tops of the pockets formed in themembers E, asthe latter are rotated about the shaft-B. As each member B passes beyondthe member J the cakes within it drop-onto a conveyer belt or endlessapron N, which runs over a roll M driven through gear wheel M secured toit and the meshing gear wheel B secured to the shaft B. The upper sideof the apron N runs on a table A having an u per horizontal portion anda lower inclined portion. Adjacent the lower end of the inclined portionof the member A the apron N runs over a knife edge or guide N, which isadjustable to take up the tension of the belt by means of adjustablescrews N and frame work brackets N It will be observed that the upperside of the a ron N travels in the same general direction and withsubstantially the same velocity as the members E, while the latter willtravel through the lower portion of their path. By this arrangement thecakes are discharged easily and without injury from the members E ontothe apron N, resting on the latter with their iced sides u As each rowof iced cakes discffarged from one member E onto the apron N is carriedto the lower edge of the knife edge guide N the row of cakes slide ontoa suitable receiver, which, in the form shown, is one of a set of traysor pans R, which are carried beneath the knife edge guide E b means of aflexible conveyer belt or apron The belt P runs over guide rollsQ and Qat the end of the machine, over intermediate idler rolls Q and Q andover an adjustable belt tightener roll Q Belt N is driven normally bymeans of a s rocket chain Q connecting sprocket whee M on a shaft of theroll M and a sprocket gear Q on the shaft-Q, of the roll Q. The roll Qis not fastened on the shaft Q but is normallyturned with the shaftthrough a gear wheel Q secured to the shaft Q and a pawl Q secured tothe roll This, while insuring that the roll Q will turn with the shaft Qpermits the roll Q to be turned independent of the shaft Q to advancethe apron P when desirable. This advancing movement of the a ron P maybe had by rotating a hand whee Q secured to the shaft Q to which theroll Q is se cured. The purpose of this arrangement is to permit theattendant to advance the apron P and adjust each tra R-deposited on itat the right hand end 0 the machine, so that the initial row of cakeswill be p roperly placed on each tray and will not be deposited ,on theadjacent edges or between the adjacent pair of trays. As the speed oftravel of the conveyer P should be such that the rows of cakes depositedon each tray will be close together, provision should be made for adejusting the speed of the conveyer P to correspond to thesize of thecakes iced. This may conveniently be done by 9 having different numbersof teeth. As each filled tray on' which the iced cakes will be depositedin regular rows and columns, ap- 1 proaches the left hand side of themachine,

it is removed.

To insure that the skeleton or cage like bottom of the pockets in themembers E are cleaned and free from icing material from previous icing o'erations a cleaning mechan lSIIl is provide In the form shown, the

cleaning mechanism comprises a pair of where it is desired to stencil anicing brush rolls K, which are located between th side frame members Aand dip in a water ba h K K. The shafts of the brush rolls K carry gearsK which mesh together so that the rolls K turn in opposite directions.The shaft supporting one of the rolls vided with a pulley K, which mayconveniently be driven from an overhead eountershaft. 'lhese brushesinsure that the skeleton frame work forming the bottom of thepockets inthe members E is thoroughly cleaned before passing into the position toreceive cakes from the table.

The construction illustrated is simple in operation and is effective forthe purpose for which it is designed. With it.a large number of cakesmay be iced uniformly and with'a minimum of wastage and breakage in] acomparatively short time. The construction shown in Figs. 1 'to 4inclusive is particularly adapted for operation without change on cakesof difierent size and shape, though it'will of course be understood thatthe table L may be removed and replaced by another having the grooves Lof different shape when it'is desired to ice cakes difl'ering greatly insize and shape...

Instead ofiusing a main conveyer, in which each member E is rovided witha single longitudinal pocket E the members E may be formed as shown inFigs. 5 and 6, with a plurality of pockets E each of which is intendedto hold but a single cake at one time. Instead of forming the skeletonor cage like bottom for the conveyer pockets as shown in Fig. 4, I mayform each ocket bottom as shown in Fig. 5, of a piece id of sheet metalor the like, having an opening in it through whichthe icing is appliedto the cake. This form of pocket bottom is particularly useful 7 designIn Fi 6 T have on one side of the cake.

providing a 10 series of interchangeable gears contained in a tank orreceptacle A is pro- A shown the pocket bottom as formed of smalldiameter wire E bent into a loop.

It will, of course, be understood by those skilled in the art that otherchanges than those indicated may be made in the form of the inventiondisclosed without departing from the s irit of the invention and 1 donot wish the c aims, hereinafter made, to be limited to the particularembodiment disclosed more thanis necessary by the state ofv the art.

While with the wire pocket bottoms of the members E, as shown in Figs. 4and 6, the cakes when discharged from the pockets have the marks of thewires formed in them. These marks, whichare notlarge on account of thesmallness of the wires, disappear on account of the fluidity of thestill undried icing material.

Having now described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to-secu re by Letters Patent is:

1. A cake icing machine comprising in combination a conveyer formed withcake receiving pockets having skeleton bottoms, and

'a rotating supplying roll or rolls located ad j acent the path of saidskeleton bottoms, in position to apply icing to the cakes supported bysaid bottoms.

2. A cake icing machine comprising in combination one or more rotatingicing supplying rolls, and a cake conveyer provided with skeletonsupports for cakes, said conveyer runmng over said rolls and in suchproximity thereto as to move the bottoms of the cakes into contact withthe icing on said roll or rolls.

3. A cake icing machine comprising in combination one or more rotatingicing supplying rolls, means for applying an icing layer of regulatedthickness to each of said rolls, and a cake conveyer provided withskeleton supports for cakes, said conveyer running over said rolls andin such roximity thereto as to move the bottoms of t 1e cakes intocontact with the icing on said rolls.

at. A cake icing machine comprising in combination an endless conveyercomprising members hinged together and formed with cake receivingpockets open at the top and provided with s (eleton bottoms, one or moreicing rolls located within said endless conveyer and ad acent the pathof said skeleton bottoms.

5. A cake icing machine comprising in combination an endless conveyercomprising members hinged together and formed with cake receiving ocketsopen at the top and rovided with s eleton bottoms, an icing roll ocatedadjacent the path of said skeleton bottoms, and means for applying anicing layer of regulated thickness to said roll.

6. A cake icing machine comprising in combination an endless conveyerformed of a pair of spaced apart sprocket chains and plate like membersthe ends of which are secured at regular intervals to said chains,

said members being formed with cake re-' hering icing material into theline of travel of the skeleton bottoms of the conveyer pockets.

7. A cake icing machine comprising in combination an endless conveyerformed of a pair of spaced apart sprocket chains and plate like membersthe ends of which are secured at regular intervals to said chains, saidmembers being formed with cake receiving pockets at the outer ends andprovided at their inner ends with skeleton bottoms, rotating guidesabout which said conveyer turns an icing containing trough located belowthe portion of said conveyer running between the upper sides of saidguides, one or more rotating rolls dip ing into said trough and arrangedto carry tiie adhering icing material into the line of travel of theskeleton bottoms of the conveyer pockets, and means for regulating thethickness of the icing layer on each roll.

8. A cake icing machine comprising in combination an endless conveyerformed of a pair of spaced apart sprocket chains and plate like members,the ends of which are secured at regular intervals to said chains, saidmembers being formed with cake receiving pockets at the outer ends andprovided at their inner ends with skeleton bottoms, rovtating guidesabout which said conve er turns an icing containing trough located elowthe portion of said conveyer running between the upper sides of saidguides, one or' more rotating rolls' dip )ing into said trough andarranged to carry t e adhering icing material into the line of travel ofthe skeleton" bottoms of the conveyer pockets, a trough for a cleaningliquid supported beneath said conveyer portion, and a rotating cleansingbrush the lower edge of which dips into said trough and the upper edgeof which ex:

tends into the path of travel of said skeleton bottoms.

9. A cake icing machine comprising in combination an endless conveyerprovided with" skeleton supports for the cakes to be iced, a rollerguide about which said conveyer turns; one or more rotating icmg rollscakes in contact with said first conveyer un-' til the cakes are abovesaid horizontal portion of said secondconve er.

10. In a cake icing mac ine an endless conveyer provided with skeletoncake supports, one or more icing supplying rolls adapted to apply icingto the under side of cakes resting on said cake supports, and mechanismfor cleaning said-cake supports after each icing o eration.

1 1. n a cake icing machine an endless conveyer provided with skeletoncake supports, icing rolls adapted to apply icing to the under side ofca es resting on said cake su ports, and mechanism for cleaning said cae supports after each icing operation, said mechanism comprising a pairof brushes arranged in the line of travel of' said skeleton supports andmeans for rotating said brushes in opposite directions.

12. In a cake icing machine an endless conveyer provided with skeletoncake supports, means for applying icing to the under sides of the cakessupported on said supports, and means for smoothing the icing andregulating its thickness comprising one or more taut wires of smalldiameter stretched below the line of travel of said supports.

, JAMES H. MITCHELL.

VVitnessesi ARNOLD KATz, S. STEWART.

